Rainbow Wahine slip up, win in 4
POSTED: Monday, October 27, 2008
Ask and you shall receive.
At least that's how Amber Kaufman saw it last night.
| HAWAII 3 Fresno 1 NEXT UP
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Not happy with how No. 9 Hawaii looked in dropping Set 2 to Fresno State yesterday, the junior middle had a simple solution.
“;I told Dani (setter Mafua) I would like more sets,”; said Kaufman, who had five kills in 10 attempts prior to the break. “;I was (mad) about losing.”;
Kaufman took out her frustration on the Bulldogs, with four kills and a block as Hawaii took control early in Set 3 en route to a 25-15, 19-25, 25-14, 25-12 Western Athletic Conference victory. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,402 (5,570 tickets) saw the pink-accesorized Rainbow Wahine (17-3, 10-1 WAC) run their record to 43-0 against the Bulldogs (5-14, 2-8), dropping just their ninth set to Fresno State in the series.
Kaufman finished with 11 kills, hitting .556, one of three Wahine in double-digit kills in the 100-minute win. Freshman hitter Kanani Herring finished with a match-high 13 kills and senior hitter Jamie Houston had 12, several of them “;momentum-changing,”; in Sets 3 and 4, according to first-year Fresno State coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell.
“;When Jamie got on ... it's tough to deal with when she goes over the block.”;
Speaking of blocks, Hawaii had 11.5 to Fresno State's 1, led by senior middle Nickie Thomas' eight, including a career-high three solo.
“;We were all mad at ourselves,”; Thomas said of losing Set 2. “;It was very disappointing. It's not that they weren't doing anything we couldn't handle. We didn't make the plays.”;
And Fresno State served tough. The Bulldogs had five service errors in Set 1 but came back with four aces in Set 2, including three during an 11-4 run that gave them an insurmountable 21-13 lead.
The passing continued to look shaky in Set 3, with Fresno State getting two more aces in taking a 6-3 advantage. Hawaii answered with a 5-0 run that included two kills each by Kaufman and Herring and the Bulldogs never got closer than 10-9.
It was close early in Set 4, and then it was over with Houston serving for six straight for an 11-4 lead. At 19-11, Stephanie Ferrell had four kills in the closing 6-1 run, including the last three.
Hawaii hit .454 on the night, the second-highest percentage of the season. No Wahine hit under .310 (Herring).
“;Erase Game 2 and it looks pretty good,”; Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “;I think it says something about our team that they could start slow and shake it off, holding them to 14 points. It could have gone the other way, but we settled down.
“;Our passing was in disarray for a little bit. Fresno served tough, served very tough in the seams. That poor communication on our part created some problems.”;
Shoji said his locker room talk after Set 2 focused on attitude.
“;When things are going bad, we want to come out of it faster,”; he said. “;We're not that young of a team. We should have better leadership out there.
“;I was impressed by Fresno's attitude. They know they're undermanned, but their attitude was good and it looked like they were having fun.”;
Baylee Platt and Lauren Berger each had 10 kills for the Bulldogs. Berger and setter Allanah Munson received the “;Fighting Spirit Award”; Netherby-Sewell instituted this season.
“;It's all about fighting through adversity,”; Netherby-Sewell said after her team's seventh straight loss. “;Even when the team was down, they kept fighting.”;
Note: It was a team decision on Hawaii's part to wear pink socks and accessories in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
WAC standings
| W | L | Pct. | GB | All |
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| Hawaii | 10 | 1 | .909 | — | 17-3 |
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| New Mexico St. | 9 | 1 | .900 | 1/2 | 15-7 |
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| Idaho | 7 | 3 | .700 | 2 1/2 | 14-7 |
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| Nevada | 6 | 5 | .545 | 4 | 11-10 |
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| Utah State | 6 | 5 | .545 | 4 | 8-14 |
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| San Jose St. | 4 | 6 | .400 | 5 | 9-12 |
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| Boise St. | 3 | 8 | .272 | 7 | 6-15 |
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| Fresno St. | 2 | 8 | .200 | 7 1/2 | 5-14 |
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| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 10 | .000 | 9 1/2 | 3-17
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Yesterday
Hawaii def. Fresno State 25-15, 19-25, 25-14, 25-12
Tomorrow
Utah Valley at Boise State
Thursday
Fresno State at San Jose State
Idaho at Utah State
Louisiana Tech at New Mexico State
| Hawaii def. Fresno State |
||||||||||
| 25-16, 19-25, 25-14, 25-12 |
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| Bulldogs (5-14, 2-8 WAC) |
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| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Munson | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | .333 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2.5 |
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| Leonardo | 4 | 5 | 1 | 11 | .364 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
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| Platt | 4 | 10 | 8 | 37 | .054 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
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| Gera, La. | 4 | 8 | 3 | 34 | .147 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 |
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| Berger | 4 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 217 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9.5 |
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| Van Grouw | 4 | 6 | 4 | 22 | .091 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 |
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| Mason | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Moss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 10 | 0 | 0 | -1.0 |
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| Oglesby | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Gera, Li. | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 4 | 41 | 21 | 133 | .150 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 34.0 |
| Rainbow Wahine (17-3, 10-1 WAC) |
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| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Kaufman | 4 | 11 | 1 | 18 | .556 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12.5 |
| Herring | 4 | 13 | 4 | 29 | .310 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 13.0 |
| Houston | 4 | 12 | 2 | 19 | .526 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 11.0 |
| Thomas | 4 | 7 | 0 | 13 | .538 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12.5 |
| Mafua | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .400 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4.0 |
| Cubi-Otineru | 4 | 7 | 0 | 17 | .412 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 8.5 |
| Ferrell | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Hittle | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Keefe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Kaaihue | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Lee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 4 | 57 | 8 | 108 | .454 | 58 | 3 | 17 | 68.0 |
Key—g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces - service errors)
Aces—Fresno State(7): Gera, La. 2, Van Grouw 2, Moss, Munson, Berger, Hawaii (6): Cubi-Otineru 2, Kaufman, Mafua, Hittle, Brandt. Assists—Fresno State (39): Munson 31, Moss 4, Van Grouw 3, Gera, Li. Hawaii (54): Mafua 50, Hittle 2, Ferrell, Brandt. T—1:40. Officials—Eric Asami, Wayne Lee. A—3,402.
